It’s often recommended as a good first anime.
Summary:
- Demon Slayer being criticized for its generic story doesn’t matter to new fans.
- It’s easy to follow and looks really good — it’s a great first recommendation.
- If someone watches Demon Slayer first, they might have unrealistically high standards for animation in other series.
Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) is pretty much the biggest anime of the modern day — the only other series that can compete with its popularity is Jujutsu Kaisen. It was responsible for getting many new fans into anime, and practically became a worldwide phenomenon.
Still, the series was also criticized for many things. The protagonist being too perfect, the story being too bland, etc. — there are many reasons why some fans think Demon Slayer might not be as good as its reputation suggests.
So, is the anime really a good way to introduce new fans to anime, or should they try something else?
The Story Being Too Simple Doesn’t Matter to New Fans
All the criticism about the story being generic and uninteresting, or the protagonists being too boring, won’t make much sense to a new fan. Chances are, if they’re getting into anime, they haven’t seen anything like Demon Slayer before.
Maybe they’ve seen some Dragon Ball or One Piece on TV, but that wouldn’t count, and the battle shounen genre will still be new to them. These criticisms are usually brought up by more experienced fans, not by newbies.
Why It’s Generally a Very Good Recommendation
By itself, Demon Slayer is actually an amazing recommendation for a new fan. It’s flashy, it has good action, it’s easy to follow and doesn’t require much prior knowledge. It could have been a live- action series and worked just as well. It doesn’t rely much on tropes or character archetypes that are only familiar to dedicated fans.
Demon Slayer is arguably a perfect introductory anime. It shows the strengths of the medium: the animation is amazing (and considered by many the best in modern anime), and the anime provides good action at a relatively fast pace, but still goes on long enough to not feel too short.
Potential Issues
Ironically, Demon Slayer also becomes a worse recommendation once you see its effect on new fans. After watching it, many of them are impressed by the action and want something similar — and what they don’t realize is that the production of Demon Slayer is exceptional.
There are very few series that look just as good. As a result, new fans put unrealistic expectations on other series they watch when it comes to animation.
Moreover, some people just want something different — not everything looks for action. Demon Slayer is not a good first anime recommendation if you want something more dialogue-heavy, for example, or a romance series.